Aerosol valve assembly having a dispenser cap and spacer collar



Sept. 24, 1968 D. B. GREEN 3,402,863

AEROSOL VALVE ASSEMBLY HAVING A DISPENSER CAP AND SPACER COLLAR Filed Dec. 7, 1966 ,402,8 r AEROSOL VALVE ASSEMBLY HAVING, A DISPENSER CAP AND SPACERCOLLAR Derek G. Green, Manchester, N.H., assignor' to Scovill Manufacturing Company,=Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut 1 Filed Dec. 7,1966, Ser. No. 599,787

7 Claims. (Cl. ZZZ-402.13).

ABSTRACT OF DISCLOSURE A three-part overcapand actuator for an aerosol container. One part, a spacer collar, fits over the rim of a standard mounting cup for the container and serves to shield the upper surfaces of the mounting cup'from the material being dispensed. A standard overcap fits snugly on the spacer collar. A plunger button is slidably and rotatably mounted in the overcap. A slotted stem depending from button engages the top of the actuator stem on the aerosol container. Dispensing is effected by aligning the slot in the stem with a discharge passage in the overcap and then depressing the button.

This invention relates to aerosol valve assemblies of the type having a dispenser cap especially intended for dispensing foamy or creamy materials.

Such dispenser caps have heretofore been provided with a depending skirt portion'sized to fit around the rim of the mounting cup. An actuator button operates through a hole in the dispenser cap to open the valve and allow flow through the cap to a discharge passage.

The present invention deals with a spacer collar which has an outer wall sized to fit over the rim of a standard mounting cup and an inwardly stepped upper portion of this wall has the same outer diameter as the mounting cup rim so as to receive the skirt portion of the standard dispenser cap.

One object of the invention is to provide means on the spacer collar to prevent access of the material being dispensed to the upper surfaces of the metal mounting cup. In former dispensing cap assemblies, this has been a problem due to the corrosive action of the material being dispensed.

Another advantage of the invention is the provision of a decorative rim between the container and the dispenser cap. These parts are molded from plastic material and the spacer collar may be of a contrasting color.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the accompanying drawing, I have shown for purposes of illustration, one embodiment which the invention may assume in practice. In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the parts ready for assembly;

FIG. 2 is a vertical central section through the as sembly on a large scale;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the spacer collar as seen from the bottom side;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are cross-sections on line 44 of FIG. 2; showing different rotated positions of the actuator button;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the top portion of a container fitted with a spacer collar; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged detailed section showing the sealing and locking connection between the button stem and dispensing cap.

The aerosol container, generally designated 7, may be of any desired size and shape and the one herein shown has a top wall 8 with an outwardly curled rim 9. The valve-mounting cup made from sheet metal has an outer 3,402,863 Patented Sept. 24,

wall 10 extending upwardly from its bottom 11 and a circumferential outer bead lz. rolled over the rim 9 0 thecontainer. Extending upwardly from the central portion of the;mounting cup bottom .11 is the cylindrical pedestal portion 13 with a top wall 14-having a central opening 15.

The valve itself may be of any standard type employing ashousing 16 secured in the pedestal portion 13 by indentations 17 and having a hollow stem 18 projecting upwardly through the opening 15 and adapted to actuate the'valve by vertical movement of the stem.

The spacer collar, generally designated by the numeral 19, is made from plastic material which has a fair degree of flexibility and has a cylindrical outer wall with the larger diameter portion 20 which is internally sized to fit tightly over the outer bead 12 of the mounting cup. Above the portion 20 of this outer wall, there is the inwardly stepped portion 21 with a shoulder 22 at the junction of the two portions of the outer wall, and the outer diameter of this stepped portion 21 is substantially the same as that of the mounting cup bead 12 so that it will in turn be adapted to receive a dispenser cap which has been made to standard size normally used by fitting directly on the mounting cup. The top wall 28 of the spacer collar 19 preferably has a centrally depressed portion 23 with a central hole 23' somewhat smaller than the hole 15 of the mounting cup. This portion 23 overlies the top wall 14 of the pedestal portion 13 and preferably bears against it when the parts are assembled.

The dispenser cap itself, generally designated by the numeral 24, may be similar to dispenser caps now employed. As shown it has a depending skirt portion 25 fitted tightly on the reduced diameter portion 21 of the spacer collar and bearing against the shoulder 22. The dispenser cap 24 has an opening 26 extending vertically therethrough in alignment with the valve stem 18 and a laterally extending discharge passage 27 leads from this vertical opening 26.

The actuator button, generally designated 29, has a knurled knob 30 and a depending plug portion 31 extending into and preferably through the central opening 26 of the dispenser cap. This plug has a cross slot 32 which is always in registry with the opening 33 in the valve stem 18 in any rotated position of the plug. The bottom of the plug 31 may have a counterbore 34 with a transverse surface 35 bearing against the end of the valve stem 18.

The actuator button 29 is capable of vertical reciprocable movement and also rotary movement in the opening 26. Means are provided to effect a seal around the plug 31, such as a circular rib 36 on plug 31 bearing tightly against the cylindrical surface of the central opening 26. An inturned lip 37 at the top of the opening 26 cooperates with the rib 36 to prevent unintended removal of the actuator button. In assembly, however, the rib 36 may be snapped over the lip 37.(See FIG. 7.) If desired, there may be provided a circular guide flange 38 on the button 29, interfitting with a circular groove 39 in the dispenser cap 24.

In FIGS. 2 and 4, the actuator button 29 is turned to a position where the cross slot is out of registry with the discharge passage 27. When it is desired to open the valve for the dispensing of foam or other material, the knob 30 is turned to bring the cross slot 32 into the position in FIG. 5. Now, when the actuator button is depressed, the valve stem 18 will move downwardly to open the valve and allow material to flow through the valve stem, slot 32 and discharge passage 27. If desired, the knurled knob 30 may be formed with an index pointer or rib 40 on its top surface, said rib being in aligment with the cross slot 32 to ndicate the relative position of the latter in the cap 24.

Material which may accumulate after repeated use in the space under the dispenser cap 24 will not have access to the metal of the mounting cup. This is effectively prevented by the depressed portion 23 of the top wall 28 of the spacer collar '19, which depressed portion extends over the hole'15 in the mounting cup and very close to the valve stem 18. It will also be noted that any flow around the spacer collar is further checked by the depending flange 41 which fits snugly around the pedestal portion 13.

If desired, the spacer collar 19 may be made of a contrasting colored material 'relative to cap 24 and/or the container 7 for ornamental appearances, or the purpose of indicating the particular contents of the container. This is indicated by the stippling effect in FIG. 6.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with an aerosol valve assembly of the type having a mounting cup with a circumferential outer bead by which the valve assembly is secured to a container, a central pedestal portion projecting upwardly from the bottom of said cup, a valve mounted in said pedestal portion and having a vertically movable valve stem projecting upwardly therefrom;

(a) a spacer collar having a peripheral wall with a larger diameter bottom portion fitting tightly around said outer bead on the mounting cup and an inwardly stepped upper portion whose outer diameter is substantially the same as that of said outer bead, said collar having a top wall with a central aperture through which said valve stem projects with the stem fitting loosely in the aperture;

(b) a dispenser cap having a vertical opening therethrough in alignment with said valve stem, a discharge passage leading from said opening and a depending skirt portion frictionally fitted over said stepped portion of the spacer cap; and

(c) a vertically reciprocable actuator button having a depending plug portion extending into said opening 4 of the dispenser cap into engagement with said valve stem for operating said valve.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said top wall of the spacer collar has a depressed portion around its central aperture which fits snugly against the top of said pedestal portion of the mounting cap.

3. The combination in. claim 1 wherein said spacer collar has a central portion bearing on the top of said pedestal portion and also a depending flange which fits snugly around said pedestal portion.

4. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein said pedestal portion of the mounting cup'has a hole through which the valve stem projects and wherein said central aperture in the spacer collar is of smaller diameter than said hole in the pedestal.

5. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein means are provided to effect a seal between said plug portion of the actuator button while permitting both vertical and rotary movement of said button.

6. The combination defined in claim 5 wherein said actuator button has a vertically extending cross slot which is always in registry with said valve stem and which may be rotated either into or out of registry with said discharge passage in the dispenser cap.

7. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said larger diameter portion of the spacer collar has its outer surface substantially fiush with the outer surface of said depending skirt portion of the dispenser cap.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,075,673 1/1963 Fredette ZZZ-402.13 X 3,083,872 4/1963 Meshberg ZZZ-402.17 X 3,180,536 4/1965 Meshberg 222-402.13 X

ROBERT E. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

F. R. HANDREN, Assistant Examiner. 

